It’s the play-offs for both the URC and the English Premiership. As Ulster v Munster kicks off shortly, I shan’t waste any more time.
Onna telly this week
Friday 3rd June
| Ulster v Munster | 19:35 | TG4 / Premier Sports 2 |
Saturday 4th June
| Bulls v Sharks | 12:45 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Gloucester v Saracens | 15:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| Northampton v Newcastle | 15:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| Leinster v Glasgow | 15:15 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Stormers v Edinburgh | 18:00 | TG4 / Premier Sports 2 |
Ovally Balls 
Fingers all over Hendo’s face, for a long time, at the line-out!
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It’s gonna be a red, as it should be.
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Clear as day
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By Hendo’s arse (which we’ve all just seen), what a turnover!
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@deebee
JJ Smuts is opening the bowling, somewhat unexpectedly
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Robson: Hold on to your defibrillators.
He’s not wrong.
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Fuuuuck! It all comes down to the conversion….
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Fucking hell. I thought that was out.
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Robbed again!
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That kick was wide
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Well, for gouging alone, I’ll be supporting the Bulls next week
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I’m furious. I’m sure we got done over somehow.
And yes, obvious gouging like that should mean a forfeit.
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Bit of an epic that Stormers-Ulster game. Magnificent pass from Libbock to Gelant for the equalising try. Now for the Bulls to smash the Mountain Goats next weekend.
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Adamson with the line of the day: “I didn’t see what happened and I don’t want to see it again.”
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Ulster should look to themselves, really, they could have gone 18 – 10 up but knocked on from the kick to the corner iirc.
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Deebs, Your old school played their part in a 65-point thriller in Houghton earlier. They scored 9 points against St Johns.
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I thought Ulster would see it out…. might have done with Baloucoune to keep Stormers distracted.
Red was obvious as soon as it happened – and I sympathise with the thought that it should be a forfeit…. maybe a penalty try??
There was a tweet during the week (Sam Larner?) that had Ulster as a 60min team – based net points in last 20 (Glasgow and Connacht were others) – certainly were under the cosh in last 20 today but probably should have scored from the maul when Herring broke off too soon – Adamson let mauls stop and start all day so Herring might have held his nerve and waited to get a 2nd drive going.
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I’ve somewhat got over myself now.
Trisk – on that maul, I actually thought Herring should have peeled off sooner, as it only looked like getting into trouble.
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Deebs, Your old school played their part in a 65-point thriller in Houghton earlier. They scored 9 points against St Johns.
Ouch! Back in my day we used to call St John’s our sister school.
Couldn’t follow the 2nd half because lunch, but it sounds like a hugely tense finish (red card notwithstanding). If you’d said to me in December that two of our sides would make the semi’s I’d have taken it. All-SA Final was never gonna happen! I’ll be supporting the Stormers as they’re Mrs Deebee’s team and the Bulls are TomP’s team.
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Supporting the Gougers? Hmph.
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Adre Smith (the gouger) should be banned for stupidity as much as evilness. What was he thinking? In full view of the camera.
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Odd refereeing today, I thought. Sarries seemed to get away with high shots all over the park. They were the better team, but could well have had a couple of guys sent off, Daly on Smith, how was that not a red ? it was late , and it was forceful swinging arm to the side of the head. Super unlikeable team, and Faz really is a prick, on a rugby pitch at least.
Matthew Carley did the same at Welford Road. Leicester high shots all mitigated down, and a couple were really bad, and Saints ll seemed mitigated up. The last yellow for the replacement prop was a travesty, he hit on the upper arm, not even shoulder, and as the player ducked he slid up and possibly brushed his neck area sort of, from behind, in a seatbelt tackle. Yellow, and resurgent Saints chasing the game go down to 14. Also made some dubious knock on and turnover calls. Shame, usually he is very good.
Would love to see Tiggers beat Sarries, but they need to up their game, particullrly at the breakdown, Earl and Itoje are a formidable.
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Didn’t see the Ulster game, shame. Perhaps there could be a play off for the top European team.
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On a couple of levels it would be funny to see sarries waltz back in and take the title.
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no, it wouldn’t…….
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Note to ref in final:- watch Sarries outside backs for offside.
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This could be said of any match and any team…. players wide in the defensive line creeping up…
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Phil Bennett gone…
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Maro has played 150 times for Sarries apparently. So what does this make him on the EddieJones car scale? Audi TT? Porsche Cayenne? Some kind of Mercedes?
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That’s sad news about Phil Bennett. I’d just turned 6 when he played his last game for Wales but it was a great game. They beat France to win the Grand Slam and the little maestro was captain and scored two tries.
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Phil Bennett and ‘that try’…
That’s another legend I’ve outlasted.
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Latest All Blacks squad announced today – I’ve lost track of rugby the last few years so there’s lots of names there that are new to me. Working a few evenings a week has effectively divorced me from ‘footy’ and with all the frigging rule changes I just can’t really be bothered any more.
GREETINGS to all the familiar names. Doubt I’ll be hanging around – I’m only here because the new computer picked up my old settings from the browser and a tab for this place popped up.
Good luck, folks.
This week I have been mostly listening to Chuck Prophet and James McMurtry.
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Amused to see I still fuck it up and my name comes up instead of my alias.
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Hello, ElSuavo!
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to edit your name in your previous comment, so I unapproved it instead. But here’s what you said:
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Hello Suavo! Good to hear from you! Hope you discover the rugby mojo again soon!
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Any new obscure Asian curry recipes in the offing, Suavo?
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Hello El Suavo – good to hear/read you.
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Salut Suavo,
Hope all is good with you.
Some of the rugby is still watchable, although I have to agree with you, most of it isn’t. I like the charges of the light brigades and I often see trenches instead. And too much whining.
Ach…
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Hi Suavo. I’ve been reading some Len Deighton books recently (plundered from a flat I’ve had to clear after a death in the family, but so it goes) which made me wonder where you’d got to.
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Some finishes from Phil Bennett on that video that still make me laugh out loud even though I’ve seen them so many times, especially the last one from South Africa and the Scotland one where everyone seems to be lying on the ground at the end.
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Hey Suavo, good to hear from you. How is life in general in NZ ? Are you guys back to normal after the thing?
I was ruminating on law changes etc over the weekend, and figure that I sound like a stuck record, but the sight of an impenetrable defence strung out across the pitch and sides commiting only the tackler or the tackler plus one to a breakdown did make a lot of play look a lot like watching the NRL, altho as with league you have to have players 10 yrds back instead of behind the rear foot at the play of the ball means at least a little room to create something, sometimes with union it looks like rinse and repeat. Add in shielding of players receiving kicks by 3 or 4 blockers, caterpillers for box kicks etc, and it really does look quite the different game for us oldies. Somehow rugby does break out every now and again tho. It does have a feeling of being much more of a game of speed chess tho, with preplanned moves to apply to every permutation. Poor lads must have to learn from a playbook almost as big as a gridiron player.
Refreshing to see some “proper ” batting going on at the test in the last couple of days, seems that applying a straight bat and footwork in a traditional manner can be productive, maybe hope for the future after all.
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Looks like ll the tests are sold out, Refit.
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Hey hey El Suavo!! I did wonder if we’d hear from you again. Even if it is fleeting it’s nice to know you’re OK.
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Tis sad news about Phil Bennett too.
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NZ did well in the early stages of the covid fracas with an early lockdown protecting an under-funded health service (sound familiar?) but the longer-term disgruntlement combined with the fuckwitted anti-vaccine social media onslaught brought out the worst in some of my fellow countrypersons. Plenty of the folks without much in the way of critical faculties have fallen in thrall to the conspiratorial mindset and with the current and on-going issues of rampant inflation, fucked supply lines and distrust we have a lot of local discontent. A lot of people see our problems as a local issue, solvable within the country, when it is simply part of the global situation.
Our PM, who has hardly put a foot wrong, is now the object of extreme (for NZ) dislike and her government is likely to be rolled. I find this ironic given the opposite situation with BoJo.
Personally, I’ve had it pretty good the last few years. Got vaxxed early and had all the jabs recommended thus far. I’ve managed to avoid the virus, despite working in hospitality. These days, the punters don’t have to be masked but the staff do. It’s not comfortable but it seems to be working as a preventative so I just comply. As a punter (at the golf club) we all just carry on, some without a mask at all, others with mask when approaching the bar or the food counter. Outdoors there is almost no mask-wearing evident in small-town Whakatane – not sure what the cities are like. La Suava has likewise stayed healthy, again despite working with the public. I know a smallish number of people who have had the virus, but also know plenty who have not. With winter settling in down here the seasonal flu will add a further complication but it will be “steady as she goes” for me.
Sorry, Deebs, no curries at this stage. If you can find Madhur Jaffrey’s recipe for lamb or beef korma it is a perennial favourite and I don’t think I’ve fucked it up yet. Gratifying to know that you all (?) still remember me.
Flair – I shot a 73 off the stick last year which killed my handicap which is only now drifting out into the mid-teens.
I’ve gone on longer than I meant to…
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Our PM, who has hardly put a foot wrong, is now the object of extreme (for NZ) dislike and her government is likely to be rolled. I find this ironic given the opposite situation with BoJo.
Words fail me!
Glad to hear you and La Suava are well.
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It’s great to hear from you El Suavo, I do think of you from time to time and send positive vibes your way.
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